In Marathwada (central part of Maharashtra) where my farm is located, as of today 1474 ground water wells in 925 villages have been acquired by government for drinking water purpose. Water scarcity is an extremely difficult problem to manage. As of today we are just into first week of February and summer is yet to begin. Situation is scary to mention the least.
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Given the grim situation at hand, watering plants may not be an option where wells have dried. Please suggest best ways to safeguard Citrus (Mosambi) orchards until rainy season begins- in about 5 to 6 months from now? Example dew drops collection, plastic sheets roll out, mulching, etc.
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Please come forward, kindly suggest. Taking timely measures can at least lessen the damage. Appreciate all your inputs.
Ps. my farm is 35 kms from Aurangabad (M.S.)
Follow pot irrigation or bottle irrigation method see below link.
Thank Sri. I had gone through the thread previously.
Pot irrigation is useful when some water is available. I am worried about the bit long dry spell where it is essential for plants to somehow survive.
Also please have a look at this: tal-ya.com/ ->Tal Ya Water Irrigation Trays - Making the most of Dew.
May be you are already aware of such a thing however, I have not noticed anything similar in Indian market.
I just browsed the link, The tray is designed in such a way that any rainwater,dew or drip will collected and delivered at the bottom of the stem. This also acts a mulch.
Now, I was comparing our natural system of watering:
according to Sri Palekar water must be fed at the contour of canopy. i.e if the caopy of a plant is 3ft, we have to feed water on the soil 3ft away from the stem. The roots that take water are situated at the outer canopy - See more at below link for pictorial view of above point.
palekarzerobudgetspiritualfa … oznEx.dpbs
i.e. plants cannot absorb water directly, first it has to converted into vapour then the roots absorb it. In tray system since there is no room for aeration underneath.
Again I am just bringing out my views on the tray system. I dont have any trial reults to support my views.
What is your opinion
The trays seem an interesting idea, it seems simple enough to improvise locally. On Sri’s point, the hole could actually be moved a little away from the stem if necessary. Also, would a combination be possible to collect the water into an earthern pot?
Maybe worth checking how much dew actually gets deposited each day in our conditions.
On a separate note, I remember the use of defoliaters to remove leaves and reduce transpiration. Need to look for the information.
Chandra,
That is fentastic idea. Hybrid of tray and pot concept.
Is there any other way to concentrate on…? Please share
I think you need to look at long term solution only,for which you need people’s involvement. For example there is one video on net about ‘India’s miracle water village’ which is in Maha itself.
I also think synthetic mulch like plastic etc may actually increase soil temperature and may act negatively (just my opinion). This tal-ya seems to have developed from the original idea of Groasis water boxx(which I knew long back). They seem to work well in the initial stages of plants to get it established. For mature orchards, I do not know if this works.
Look at this link groasis.com/en/photos-en/fin … technology and search for India. Groasis has been used in India.
Live or dry mulching with any organic matter will help. But need to be protected against fire in dry season. Or any broad leaves of locally available tree species to cover around base of tree could be used.
All the best for you and your trees.
–Yug
Thank You! Appreciate your response.